TV with Something at Stake In praise of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" I will never forgive my friend Kevin for turning me on to stake-in-the-heart drama "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer". If you haven't already been introduced to the many pleasures of Buffy, it may be too late, as this season may very well be its last, and is almost certainly the final departure for lead actress, Sarah Michelle Gellar. I'm going to assume some familiarity with the show, since recapping the last six seasons would involve far too many vampires, coming-of-age parables (insecure nerd becomes witch becomes lesbian becomes self-righteous authority abuser becomes drug addict becomes unsteady rehab victim and in the wake of her girlfriend being shot, becomes all-powerful force of vengance that rips the skin off her girlfriend's murderer and then tries to end the world so nobody will ever have to feel pain again) to recount here. Suffice it to say that after a year of watching the show, I've finally come around to seeing that Buffy is the best show on television. Ever. The episode that finally pushed me over the edge was this week's "Conversations with Dead People". Buffy spent most of last season trying to find a reason to live again after having been pulled out of heaven by her well-meaning friends (affectionately reffered to by fans as 'The Scooby Gang'..'cuz ya know- they fight monsters and stuff). In fact, for Buffy, her friends and family have always been the thing to keep her grounded, for better or worse. Last year, around this time, a demon came to town that made everyone burst out into songs that revelead their secrets (The Emmy nominated "Once More, With Feeling). Buffy only defeated the demon with the help of her frends, but in the aftermath of so many secrets revealed, the seeds were sown for each of them to wind up alone. This week, we finally see that they are, literally. Each of our major characters spend the entire episode alone, conversing with the dead (Spike, a vampire and already dead, seems to be chatting with a still living woman at a bar- at least that's what we can guess, because we don't hear this conversation, and Spike has a soul now, and there's a good possibility that the Spike we see is not Spike at all. Do you see this much ambiguity on The West Wing? Alyson Janney eat your heart out. Or let Spike do it for you. Oops. I just gave out a spoiler!) In any event- each of the dead people the characters talk to reveals the source of the character's isolation: Oft-neglected lil' sis' Dawn appears to fight off a demon to speak with her deceased Mother (who died, not by demon or vamp, but brain cancer- in the jaw-on-the-floor powerful episode 'The Body'), Willow (the lesbian witch I mentioned earlier) speaks through a recently dead guest star to her now dead girlfriend (the reason we don't see the girlfriend herself is becuase the actress playing her wanted more money, however it is explained away as, "You can't see her. You killed. You don't get to see her. That's just the way things are.") and Buffy, well- she gets her head examined by one of her former classmates-turned psych student-turned member of the demonic vampire undead. While I know this may seem oh-so-very-post-modern to the casual viewer, it is in fact, the opposite. "Buffy" does what all great drama aspires to do, tell stories of universal importance in a highly specific and unique way. "Buffy's" original premise- that high school really is hell, has matured with its major characters, who are all now in their twenties. The moral universe of Buffy is a murky one at best, with characters constantly choosing the wrong path, inadvertantely hurting each other (Buffy's friends bring her back from the dead- thinking she was in hell, but in fact, they ripped her out of heaven) and above all, trying to find a reason to live life with joy when life is lived among the monsters and the dead. For more anaylsis and critique of all things Buffy, check out Slayage, the Online International Journal of Buffy Studies.

posted by Japhy at 11/15/2002 02:04:00 AM || #